


Take Me Home

by TheFire_in_the_NightSky



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Commissioned art included, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Kissing in the Rain, Lots of Metaphors!, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Noct is also a bit touch averse, Noctis Lives, Power Bottom Iggy FTW, Punk Kid Noctis, Rain as a Metaphor, References to Depression, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Smut, Social Anxiety, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, handsy teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-04-23 10:32:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14330571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFire_in_the_NightSky/pseuds/TheFire_in_the_NightSky
Summary: Sick of feeling like an awkward wallflower at a party with fake people he doesn't really care for, Noct wants to get the hell out of the situation, stat.  So, in a panic, he texts his royal advisor-in-training, best friend, and roommate, Ignis Scientia of course...the only person whose presence can calm his nerves and anxiety over a life he didn't ask for.  And all Ignis wants is to steal away Noct's fears, pain, and doubts about himself and his future, if only Noctis would let him.





	1. I've Been a Prisoner All My Life

**Author's Note:**

> Just a head's up, Iggy is 19 and Noct is 17 in this. Not sure what Lucis rules are to constitute someone as being underage/still a minor, so I checked the box anyway. Also checked it since we don't know what the legal drinking age is there, of course.
> 
>  
> 
> Inspired by Phil Collin's song, "Take Me Home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Now with a gorgeous illustration of a certainnn scene! :D**  
> ***Art commission by @iwonn-arts on tumblr<3***

**_N:_ ** _Come backk now_

  ** _I:_ ** _Already?  You’ve been there less than two hours_

  ** _I:_ ** _Everything alright, Highness?_

  ** _N:_ ** _Just please cme get me_

  ** _N:_ ** _PLS SPECS_

  ** _N:_ ** _Like asap NOW_

  ** _I:_ ** _On my way, Noct_

  ** _N:_ ** _Txt me whne yur’e here_

  ** _I:_ ** _Absolutely._

 

Ignis sighs and thinks better than to ask the prince if he was drunk.  He can only assume, and practically _hear_ Noctis’s slur through his frantic misspellings.  Truly, it worries Ignis that Noct had possibly gotten himself in a stupid situation at this “house party” the older teen already hadn’t been comfortable leaving him at to begin with.   Ignis just wanted to go get him, and be done with this. He was at least thankful that Noct now had his own apartment - at which Ignis was his roommate for the passed four months or so -  as he would not have looked forward to trying to get a drunken prince through the Citadel at night unnoticed.

 

It took Ignis a good twenty minutes to get back to the boy’s house where the party was being held.  His background worries of Noct’s friend’s parents coming home from vacation unannounced, the police being called, or something of the like was laid to rest when he pulled up and saw yet even more cars parked along the block.  Noct did _not_ need that kind of embarrassment on his plate, prince or no.

 

 **_I:_ ** _I’m here, Noct.  Out front, can’t park._

 

A few minutes pass and Ignis already feels a bit of distress eat at him without Noct’s confirmation of receiving his text.  He stares down at the phone in his hand; soft white light from the screen reflecting upon his glasses and the concern nestled between his brows.  Ignis huffs out an impatient sigh and cranes his neck to look towards the large house once more. Two more minutes, and Ignis is ready to barge in and search for Noct himself.  Thanking the Astrals, he finally spies his best friend exiting the front door, momentarily bringing with him the discordant atmosphere from within the house out into the silence of the night.  Ignis almost wants to smile at seeing him, but then he notices how the prince scuffs his heavy biker boots along the stone pathway to the street, and he reminds himself of Noct’s frantic texts from earlier.  Noct’s eyes never leave the ground, even as Ignis rises from the car, ready to race around the front of it to greet him.

 

“This isn’t the Regalia.  I’ve got it, Iggy…”

 

Noct wrenches the passenger door open.

 

“I wasn’t-”

 

But Noct waves him away before Ignis can reach his side.  Ignis feels a bit of hurt wrap around his heart at the understanding that perhaps Noctis expected him to get the passenger door...not see to his comfort as his _friend._  He watches Noct practically crumple into himself in the seat beside him after they both climb into the car, and the growing hurt Ignis feels for Noct begins feeling leaden.  As his hand finds his friend’s shoulder, he almost winces in response to Noctis’s flinch at the comforting touch. Noct was always like this, and Ignis felt it unbearable at times not to be able to comfort him in the times when words were just not enough.  He pulls his hand back, and instead lets his fingers roam across the curve of the leather steering wheel.

 

“I...Apologies, Noct.  What happened tonight?”

 

“Can we just...can we just go?   _Now?”_

 

“Yes, let’s get you home.”

 

Ignis has only turned down a couple streets before Noctis gives a short order, voice slightly raised, “Wait!”

 

“Noct?  Do you need me to pull ov-”

 

“No!   _No..._ Just...Iggy, I don’t wanna go home yet.”

 

Ignis pauses a moment before speaking, “...As you wish, Noct.  We won’t go home just yet, then.”

  
  


They drove on with no destination, Ignis inquiring only once through the heavy, yet companionable silence about whether or not Noct wanted the AUX cable to listen to his music via phone; and he’d coolly declined.  In his peripheral, Ignis sees Noctis shift uncomfortably beneath the impervious arm of safety that was his seatbelt. His friend tucks a leg beneath his bottom, and idly plucks at the little skulls that sporadically adorn the heavy steel chain attached to his boot as he stares out the window beside him.  Ignis found the possible damage to his leather car seat about as ignorable as the sight of the strain in Noct’s neck muscles, which curve up to a jaw tilted to the side in passive contemplation.

 

Staring was unadvisable and dangerous, for more reasons than Ignis would readily admit.  So, he resigned to keeping his eyes strictly averted to the road yawning on before them.

 

Noct takes note that his advisor now seems to drive on with purpose, and in the dark of the outskirts of Insomnia, the young prince tries to concentrate on any familiar landmarks to get his bearings.

 

“Ignis, where we going??”

 

“I have an idea...er, an idea that may... _hopefully_ lift your sombre mood.”

 

Noctis sits up straighter and thinks on that while fiddling with the many tiny black rings that adorn the side of his right ear.  The little flicking sounds of metal against cartilage the only quiet sound in the car for a few breaths.

 

“Mm...you can _try_.  I won’t object to that, I guess.  Take it I’m not allowed to know ‘til we get there?”

 

Ignis shrugs, “I suppose not.  It is a half-arsed plan on the fly, but it isn’t like I could blindfold you _now_ , Highness.”

 

Hoping dearly his gulp is not audible in the subsequent silence of Ignis’s car, Noctis silently curses himself for imagining his advisor blindfolding him...for **any** reason.

 

“Heh, yeah...guess not.”

  
  


As wheels grumble in protest below them over gravel, then grass, Noctis can’t help the broad, crooked smile that blooms across his face when he sees the old, familiar grassy outlook Ignis pulls off towards.  Several more feet, and Ignis draws the car to a rolling stop, placing the car in park. After turning off the engine, Ignis smiles over at Noct, taking in his excited recognition.

 

“You know where we are now.” The blond states, rather than asks.

 

Noctis just nods enthusiastically and practically lunges from the car after swinging the door open.  Ignis retreats from the car as well, casually walking the path his friend takes, who jogs on ahead until his vision is flooded with the gulf of dim starlight that blurs into twinkling city lights before him.  When Ignis’s form stills beside his, Noctis smiles over at him.

 

“Thanks, Speccy.”

 

A light chuckle leaves Ignis’s throat, and he feels his entire being warm with that smile...because _he_ is the cause of it.  Unfortunately, thick brushes of clouds conceal the fiery pinpoints above them somewhat, but Noctis is completely unfazed, and still utterly content.  Ignis doesn’t care to flick his sight upward, instead happy with the image of his best friend so near to him: a beautiful vision of wonder. ...A wonder that ceaselessly casts shadows of anguish across his heart.

 

Ignis murmurs to himself, “ **Nunc scio quid sit amor…** ”

 

But Noct hears his faint voice and turns to him, attention still mostly locked on the inky blue expanse above them.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Oh...nothing, Noct.”

 

Noct takes a couple steps backwards, and comes to rest beside Ignis, close enough that the older boy can feel the tickle of a leather-encased arm against his bare one.  The touch setting his skin alight through the night chill that makes him regret not bringing at least a hoodie. Almost sensing it, or by something altogether magnetic, Noctis moves in closer; the lines of their bodies parallel and touching.  Ignis wills all of his senses to somehow pull in the only kind of warmth he’ll ever partake of from Noct’s body.

 

“Ignis?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Do you think I can do it?  Be King one day, I mean.”

 

“Noct, you’ve got years ahead of you yet to worry,” just then, red, tear-clouded eyes turn on Ignis; the irises somehow sparked a clearer blue because of it, as well as the smudgy black makeup the prince has taken to wearing, “but yes...I believe you’ll be a kind and just king one day.  The type of king Lucis will need.”

 

The ghost of a doubtful frown plays across Noct’s features as he turns his focus away from Ignis and towards the Crown City this time.  The nagging worry for what made his friend want him to come to his rescue so badly creeps back over Ignis.

 

Quietly, the young advisor asks, “What happened at the party…?”

 

He lets his question drift off into the balmy air, almost regretting it as it leaves his mouth.  Thankfully, Noctis indulges him after a long intake of breath.

 

“ _They_ _don’t_ think I can do it.  I’m sick of kids treating me different just because of my title.  They either think I’m a fucking spoiled loser who’ll ruin everything when I’m King, or they kiss my ass because they think I can grant them fucking wishes or something.  And they’re the ones that don’t give a shit about what happens in _my_ life or what being Prince of Lucis really means.  I didn’t ask for this… Iggy, I’m so tired of faking smiles for them and getting them in return.  I don’t feel like I belong _anywhere…_ ”

 

Ignis senses Noctis’s whole body shake with the exhale of his last words.  And again, he feels the urge to gather him in his arms and comfort him. _So he does._

 

The young advisor is surprised at the sensation of hot tears that instantly wet his t-shirt as Noct buries his face into Ignis’s shoulder, and Ignis just calmly breathes in the scent of leather, letting his mouth rest against the collar of Noct’s jacket and the heat of his neck.  Ignis is even more shocked when he feels lips move against him as his friend’s throat tries to form words, and soon after the tightening of arms and palms against his shoulder blades embrace him like a lifeline.

 

“I feel like...everyone hates me...I just wanna disappear and be,” a muffled sniffle, and Noct moves just enough to lean his brow against Ignis’s collarbone, “I dunno, Specs...just _ordinary_.”

 

Once he realises he won’t be chided for any further touch, Ignis slowly rubs his hand against Noct’s back with enough pressure for him to feel it through his jacket.   Breathing in deeply to calm his own stupid nervousness, the blond comes to notice the faint drizzle and smell of damp earth carried along the breeze as his fingers knead and smear across tiny water droplets.

 

“Noct...shh...you...don’t think like that, Noct.  You are... _beloved._  And, you are cared about...so deeply.  And...you’re anything but ordinary…”

 

“Yeah, because I’m _royalty,_ I get it.  And I know dad loves me in his own way, and I’ve got _some_ actual friends, but…”

 

Pulling away slightly, and feeling very much like his nerves might make his knees fold, Ignis looks directly into his friend’s face.  Noctis clamps his mouth shut and his eyes search the older boy in befuddlement. Ignis isn’t sure anymore if it’s trails of rain or tears that ripple down Noct’s cheeks, as he himself feels intermittent heavy drops like cold fingers tapping at his scalp and back, insistent and reminding him he’s supposed to speak.  Shaky fingers remove the thick frames from his face, lenses becoming too dashed with water to bother with anymore, and Ignis folds them up neatly with one hand, tucking one temple arm into the collar of his shirt. He glances briefly up at the sky roofed in the low, blue-green cover of storm clouds illuminated by city lights, then back at Noct.  Though he holds him at arm's length, Ignis desperately wants to bring Noct against him once more and ignore the almost violent flutter in his chest.

 

“Noctis, I- _I_ care for you because you _aren’t_ ordinary, because you’re something _more._  Because you’re my very dearest friend...because you cross my thoughts, not just when I am with you-”

 

The hands around the strong arms that hold Noctis away grip tightly, then move slowly up Ignis’s rain-slicked skin; in their wake creating a path of goosebumps and hair follicles that stand at attention by the time they move to his chest.

 

 _“Specs,”_  the prince’s voice takes on a tone that’s low, and equal parts desperate, broken, and heated, “tell me why you really give a shit about me still...after all this time, _please.”_

 

Ignis releases a hand from the younger boy’s shoulder and glides it up to his jaw, where he moves away the soaked ends of onyx hair that cling to Noctis’s cooling skin.

 

“Because you are truly... **loved** ... _by me,_ Noct.  And when I say that, I-”

 

Before Ignis can possibly make a fool of himself and admit to more, the damnable heavens open up above them, and with it, the thick, vertical sheets of a downpour that sway with each minute gust of wind like a tattered sail lost in a squall.

 

Without a word, the two young men begin jogging back to Ignis’s car, boots spraying water beneath their soles against the wet squelch of overgrown wildgrass.  Noctis reaches the front of the car first, laughing almost hysterically. A little breathless, Ignis catches up with him seconds later and quirks an eyebrow up at him beneath drenched bangs.

 

“This is funny to you?”  Ignis practically yells over the loud pelt of rain that sounds over the hood of the car beside them.

 

“This is perfect!!”  Noctis _does_ yell, his face cracked in a beaming smile between more musical laughter.

 

Now Ignis can’t help but smile and laugh at the sight of Noctis, looking like a dog just out of a bath, with cloudy black lines of eye makeup streaking from the outer corners of his eyes.

 

“You’re a right mess, Noct!  You look utterly ridiculous!”

 

“Annddd??  Oh, ‘cause you look SO much better, right Specs?!”

 

Feeling self-conscious, Ignis slicks his bangs back off his forehead, almost in unison with Noct doing just the same.  Only Noct seems to be doing it much less out of annoyance for his soggy fringe, and more so to catch Ignis’s attention...if the dark look in his eyes were any indication…

 

Before speaking, Noctis inhales the smell of the cold, dark moisture in the air courtesy of Spring rain; rain that he sucks from his bottom lip as it gathers there, knowing his best friend _would_ watch.

 

“Nahh...you’re fucking gorgeous as always...jerk.”

 

 _“Noct,_ we’re soaked...  We should seriously be go-”

 

 _“No._ Out here, I don’t have to be - I don’t _feel like_ the Prince of Lucis with you.  Not right now. We can say anything…”

 

_“Noct.”_

 

“GUESS WHAT EVERYONE?!  I DON’T WANT TO BE KING OF LUCISSS!!!!”

 

Ignis covers his eyes to shield himself from the obnoxious embarrassment that was Noctis.  But, a little inner voice asks him, who really would hear or judge them all the way out here?  Even so...Ignis can tell whatever alcohol his friend had drank earlier was still lingering in his bloodstream, and he wouldn’t join in on making an ass of himself.

 

_“Noctis!”_

 

“What?”  The younger man asks with a whisper of humour in his voice.  

 

And Noct barely skips a beat as he smirks afterward, then takes in a gulp of air before shouting, “AND I HAVE A HUUUUUUUGE CRUSH ON MY BEST FRIEND!!!!”

 

Ignis is sure he feels the muddy ground give way from beneath his boots.

 

He can’t say a word.  Doesn’t actually know _what_ to say, exactly.  A **crush** ?  Oh.  Well, that was nothing...right?  Nothing like how _he_ feels.

 

Noct holds his gaze with a challenging glare, which breaks only so the prince can rake both hands through the wet hair that threatens to spill onto his forehead again.  As his arms come back down to his sides, quite a bit of water trickles from the sleeves of his leather jacket, and Noctis grimaces in cold, wet annoyance. His right hand tugs and slips at the cuff of his left sleeve until he manages to tear off the article of clothing, and it hits the hood of Ignis’s car with a heavy _slap._ Ignis ignores the short, metallic clangs of zipper pulls that he also hears landing.   _Nevermind the paint._

 

“Fuck it...I can _say anything_ I want, and no one can say anything back if they don’t like it.  And out here, I can _do anything_ I want...and no one can do anything about it,”  a heavy pause hangs between them like a dare, framed in the thousand tiny echoes beating against their surroundings.  Ignis forgets the weight of the rain on his clothing, letting the evening chill lap at his skin and tighten his muscles.  He feels like a hair-trigger waiting to be pulled, or a cat about to pounce at the next taunt flung its way, “No one except you, Ignis.”

 

As if reading each other’s minds, both teenagers collide as they meet halfway.  With a soft clatter of teeth, lips glide over lips, almost missing their mark. Ignis holds the side of Noct’s face as if he were a spectre about to fade away from his fingertips, and Noct holds fast to his wrist, grounding himself in the moment.

 

Noctis pulls away regrettably, panting soft puffs of steam that mingle with Ignis’s own heavy breathing, but he can’t really take the dig of Ignis’s glasses on his clavicle at every attempt to reach him on tip-toes.  He stops Ignis before he can dive back into the kiss, and plucks the frames from his sagging shirt collar. With the glasses in a delicate grasp, Noct wraps an arm around Ignis and brings his free hand to his own face and the fingers of his friend that have kept up a slow caress there.  Ignis flattens his palm to once again cup and tilt Noct’s face up towards his, and resumes what they’d started.

 

  _"My body is like a lightning rod,_

_Capsize me and douse me in your bay_

_A shiver of want, always_

_When you are on the tip of my tongue,_

_In the back of your parked car,_

_I could build a fort_

_And play all day_

_Between your lips and mine,_

_Let's stay here forever"_

 

Ignis smiles at the little surprised moan Noctis makes when he pushes him against the front of the car, just enough to sit.  He nudges a thigh between Noct’s knees, and is greeted with the welcome tug of anxious legs wrapped around his own. But he practically spills onto Noct when his friend grabs at the back of his head suddenly, pulling Ignis down with enough force to make him lose a bit of balance on the slippery surface of his car.  His hands find purchase near the prince’s head, and he lets himself be kissed with a passion he’s never known in all his teenage life. Ignis also allows his friend’s roaming hands their groping, his glasses forgotten on Noct’s jacket, as they dance over the soaked fabric of his thin t-shirt that clings to his chest and abs.  When fingers creep lower, Ignis’s head sings and he gives a tentative dip into Noct’s obvious arousal with his own pelvis.

 

Their senses became hammered from all sides, in every way neither had ever imagined possible; lips and hands glide slick and easy, ears filling with the sound of atmosphere swollen with the sky’s flood, and the soft, slow coating of the small sounds they make, melting over everything within their little frame of time.  

 

Thunder rumbles off in the distance like an empathetic echo to the growl catching in the prince’s throat as his advisor maps out the concave curve below his jawline.  Ignis moves to savour the rain, like saltless tears, that dribble from over Noct’s upper lip as it mingles with the taste of him on his tongue. He drinks deeper when his friend’s lips part a little more for him, and Noct feels more drunk than before in that moment.  The alcohol still coursing through his veins nothing like the warm sensation in his mouth and against his body; A warmth that was the all-encompassing seduction of everything he’d always wanted.

 

The blond breaks their kiss, but only gives a fraction of distance between them so that his low voice reverberates against Noctis’s mouth.

 

_“What do you want of me?”_

 

“Iggyy…” Noct closes his eyes and lets his lips trip over the curve of Ignis’s in a teasing manner before he continues, _“...Take me home.”_

 

And with a smirk, Ignis mutters, “Bloody storm...The interior of my car is going to be ruined.”

 

Noct moves out from beneath Ignis's embraces and takes a step backwards, grabbing his jacket and handing Ignis his glasses.  He grimaces at the light slosh of water in his boots, socks feeling like thin sponges.

 

“Ohh, c’mon.  Not as ruined as it _could be.”_

 

Ignis laughs and his friend’s suggestive meaning, “No...I guess not.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"Nunc scio quid sit amor" = "Now I know what love is" from Virgil's Eclogue VIII. I miiight HC that Iggy not only reads Virgil, but had taken a Latin course or two in high school.
> 
> **The quote break during their rainy make out session are spoken words from M83's "Reunion."
> 
> So, this was SUPPOSED to be a one-shot...but, I apparently cannot just do one-shots. Womp. A couple lines I wrote towards the end sparked some more ideas for this, so there is a second part already in progress!
> 
> Your comments & kudos are my fuel<3
> 
> You can follow me @thefire-in-the-nightsky on Tumblr or @ogon_naukaXV on Twitter for more shippy-goodness where I quietly scream about all my OTPs ;D


	2. There's a Fire That's Been Burning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seems so long I've been waiting,  
> Still don't know what for  
> There's no point escaping,  
> I don't worry anymore  
> I can't come out to find you,  
> I don't like to go outside  
> They can't turn off my feelings  
> Like they're turning off a light

 

The ride back to the apartment is a bit of an awkward one...and kinda uncomfortable, if Noct’s honest, considering he and Ignis’s soggy state.  He’s currently wrapped in a flannel throw blanket from Ignis’s trunk. The same one they’d usually lounge on to watch the stars when they were able to steal much more freetime together.  It smells like grass and old soil and Noct loves it. He wraps his safe, fabric cocoon a little tighter around himself as he looks over at Ignis, who’s currently _Mr. Serious Face._ ..watching the road, both hands on the wheel, thin, grey tee soaked and practically see-through along his lithe body.   _Ugh._  

 

Noctis taps his fingers against his lips, and is _still_ in disbelief that his best friend’s mouth had just been there not long ago.  A quiet laugh bubbles up from within him and he directs a giddy smile towards Ignis.  They’ve been doing this for the passed ten minutes - stealing stupid-happy glances at each other - when they know damn well the other will look.

 

Smiles still plastered on their faces, Ignis reaches his right hand out for Noctis’s thigh, but quickly pulls back, looking to the prince for a split-second to see if he has in fact, crossed any boundaries.  A little terrified blush fills his face.

 

“No, Iggy, it’s fine,”  Noct grabs for his hand that’s shaking with nerves, but warm from the heat of the car, and places it atop his thigh once more, “It’s okay.   _Really.”_

 

“A-Apologies...this is...new.”

 

“Nah, it’s just _me,_ Specs.  I’m not new.”

 

When Ignis laughs at him, Noctis shifts a bit onto one hip to better face his friend, keeping his palm against the hand on his leg.

 

“That’s just it!   _It’s you.”_

 

“Am I intimidatinnggg??”

 

_“Hardly,”_ Ignis smirks at the death stare he knows Noct is probably giving the side of his head right now, “In all seriousness, Noct...It’s...scarier because it is _you,_ and well...you mean a great deal to me.  You always have. You know that.”

 

_“Do I?”_

 

Ignis swallows thickly, thankful they’re almost home...for Noctis has started rubbing the top of his hand with heavy pressure; and out of the corner of his eye, he sees the prince bite at his bottom lip, head leaning lazily against his seat.  It’s already enough to set a tingling sensation blooming from his chest until Noct brings Ignis’s hand against his inner thigh. The blond’s face is so hot he wishes he had a third, unpreoccupied hand to turn off the heat in the car.

 

Noctis shrugs off the blanket and drags his fingertips up Ignis’s wrist, towards his forearm, then down again, almost daring Ignis to move his hand away.  Five more minutes, and they should be at their apartment building, Ignis thinks. The thrum of steady rain against the car drowns out his pulse as Ignis begs his self-control not to break.  But, his tease of a friend tests his resolve by creeping their joined hands lower and inward. Noctis makes a stifled sound when Ignis’s fingertips curve over the raised inseam of his jeans, and drag against the hardened form there.  

 

Mouth parting, Ignis lets out a soft sigh, and his eyelids grow heavy with inspired lust.  He tries desperately to focus on the white noise around them, and the fuzzy spatter of water against asphalt that’s illuminated by headlights before him...not the heated flesh of Noctis that’s only separated from his insistent palm by a couple layers of clothing.  He listens to the drone of the engine, the soft hum of the heater, anything but their breathing that passes through their noses in ragged beats.

 

The carpark up ahead is like a beacon to a lost ship.  A promise of long awaited land, Noctis the solid ground he’s anxious to bow down to and kiss.  The car lurches around the corner, towards the entrance. Ignis is thankful he doesn’t cause them whiplash when he breaks at the gate to swipe his keycard.  He knows Noctis is smiling mischievously without even looking over. He can practically feel it, _damn him._

 

A couple ramps up, and Ignis throws the car in park and shuts the engine off when he finally spies a vacant spot.  In the stillness of the building, they kiss feverishly until Noctis pries himself away with Ignis still clutching the back of his neck.

 

“Let’s go, huh?”

 

Ignis nods on one heavy exhale and they exit the vehicle; both teenagers trying to now play it cool as they walk to the apartment building, feet apart, rain re-soaking their hair and clothing for a brief period.  Noct bumps shoulders with his future advisor and giggles when their doorman gives them _a look_ as they enter the little lobby.   _If only he knew._

 

They’re able to enter their flat with a surprising lack of nervous key-fumbling at the door.  Though, Ignis is having trouble understanding how his friend can act like everything is so...normal.  Boots hit hardwood as they’re kicked off, and socks peeled from cold feet. Noct tosses his rain-heavy jacket onto the back of a dining-room chair, the wet weight pulling an unpleasant screech from the legs as it shifts on the floor.  The joint clatter of keys breaks the awkward silence: one resounding within the shallow walls of a glass bowl, the other muffled against a wooden table surface. Nerves are soothed in routine.

 

Noctis pads quietly across the carpet of the living area, fingers trailing the smooth wooden back of the couch along way.  He comes to a stop in the middle of the little hall leading to their bedrooms, and discards his tee without a look back towards Ignis - even when he knows his friend could protest at the wet fabric that lands on the carpet.  Instead, Noct chooses to eye his bedroom door, then Ignis’s.

 

“...Specs?” he asks with a small, coquettish glance over his shoulder, finally.

 

Not even ten minutes ago, Ignis was bursting with want for Noctis, now...well, now he feels like a virginal schoolboy on a first date.  He’s clueless of what he should do next, of what’s _appropriate._  

 

He prays he reads Noct’s mind, and asks in return, “My room?”  Not voicing the fact that he _knows_ his bed is bigger.

 

As Ignis approaches, Noct stops him short by pointing at his shirt, “Uh uh.   _Your turn.”_

 

In an act of bravery, Ignis strips it off...though he is grateful to be rid of the wet fabric that’s made his skin feel a bit frigid now.  To his relief, Noctis lets him move into his personal space, arms wrapping around waists, hands smoothing over muscle; warming, calming. Ignis tries in vain to hide the pained face he makes as Noct glides his nails against a large, bluish-purple bruise painting the right side of his ribcage.

 

“Shit, Iggy!!  What the hell is _this?!?_  Kendo stick?  Training sword?”

 

“Ah, a shin to the ribs, actually...from _Thursday’s_ training.  I was feeling...rather... _distracted_ that day, unfortunately.”

 

“Oh...oh **shit** , _wait_ ...you mean _me_ , huh?”  Noct throws a hand up over his face, mortified because he **remembers** that day.

 

He had just finished his tricking and gymnastics training, when he’d decided to pop in to where Ignis was still practicing his own class.  He couldn’t fathom why his best friend deemed it necessary to start incorporating a bit of fucking Muay Thai into his fighting style, but Noct was too curious not to watch.  Plus... _It was hot._  Noctis had entered the training room shirtless, a towel still slung over his neck, and he smiled brightly in greeting when Ignis had looked over at him.  That’s when his sparring partner’s leg had connected with his torso, and Noctis recalls watching Ignis go down on a knee with a pained grunt.

 

“Hey, you... _Noct,”_ Ignis pries the prince’s hand away from his face, then brings Noct’s fingers down to trace the hazy outline of dark green that’s beginning to form a speckled frame around the bruise, “look, it’s healing just fine, see?  And I am thankful for our shin-pads, or it could have been a lot worse, really.”

 

Now it’s Noct’s turn to grimace.  That doesn’t make him feel much better.

 

“But...godsdamnit, Ignis...Why do you do all this shit to yourself?  All this ridiculous training you put yourself through…”

 

_“For you,_ Noct,” Ignis states as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world, “If there’s any way possible I can learn to protect you better, then _I will do it._ And, if I recall, you’ve said you enjoy ‘doing all that acrobatic shit’ with me.”

 

With that, Noct smiles into the hand Ignis brings to his face, because...well...he isn’t wrong.  Being so synced with Ignis during training is one of his most favourite feelings in the world. He can just tune out everything else and feel only their movements, clear his own mind...almost in a shared state of being with his friend.  Noct kinda wants that _now,_ but...in a different way.

 

“But, you’re not my Shield, that’s Gladio’s duty...you don’t have to do all this for me.  Like...at all.”

 

“Perhaps,” Ignis leans down to place a trail of kisses that start at the prince’s cheek, and work their way down as he whispers, “but _I want to._ Please don’t worry about me, Noct.  That’s _my_ job, after all,” Noct feels the hint of a smirk press into his throat, “Nothing will ever come to harm you, so long as I am by your side…”

 

Sighing in surrender to Ignis’s words, Noctis leads them backwards and into the bedroom.  Ignis closes his door oh-so-carefully, as if any sound may puncture the vulnerable film of this surreal moment.  The reality of the situation becomes crystal clear when Noctis saunters into the room and flicks on the bedside lamp, then motions to Ignis for the main light switch near his shoulder.  Noctis laughs, finding the sight of the tall blond who’s practically glued himself to the door terribly endearing.

 

“Speccy.  I don’t bite...er, not unless you want me to?”

 

Ignis pushes himself off the door and rolls his eyes at the crooked grin Noct gives him.

 

“Ohhh, shut it.”

 

He kisses Noctis with renewed hunger, making sure to throw in a couple brave nips to the prince’s bottom lip.  Noctis moans into the kiss, skin shivering as Ignis trails teasing fingertips down his stomach. He grabs Ignis by the waistband of his jeans, bringing them achingly closer with a harsh tug.  And the sharp intake of breath from the young advisor doesn’t go unnoticed - Ignis cursing his nerves when he feels Noctis smile against his mouth.

 

“Wait, Specs...you’re not a…” then Noct lowers his voice, holding back a small snicker, “you’re not a virgin, right...?”

 

Ignis makes a positively frustrated sound, then pushes Noct’s hands away and hurriedly unbuckles his pants, following with the button and zipper fly.  He feels smug at the look on Noct’s face, and smiles wickedly as he pulls his jeans down.

 

In Noct’s effort to keep up, the light clank of metal fills the space between them as he fiddles with his own belt buckle.  All the while, his eyes not leaving the large bulge in Ignis’s boxer briefs. Just then, Ignis is on him and he’s being pushed down onto the bed before he can even think to wriggle out of his pants.  The surprised huff he gives is swallowed up by Ignis’s own quiet moans, the volley of breaths they share turning his twitching muscles to jelly.

 

“I promise you,” Ignis begins peeling Noct’s tight jeans off impatiently, _“this_ is nothing new to me, Noct.”

 

With his eyes closed, Noct lets Ignis’s voice, and the motions he makes along his body, fill every part of the void his best friend has no idea he’s filling.  Until tonight, the prince wouldn’t have dared to dream this moment becoming a reality...thoughts of Ignis were just immature fantasies and lost hopes his heart would never indulge in, or so he’d assumed.

 

Ignis was the one who knew him best - had always been _the one_ for thirteen years now, and perhaps Noctis did nothing to change that fact, because...well maybe, he simply didn’t want to.  He always wanted _Ignis_ to be that confidant, that warm place that felt like home - a home before they’d even made this flat _theirs._  Noct was also scared...oh-so terrified.  But he knew, deep within his aching bones, like a burning secret waiting to explode into sound and flame...there was this absolute part of him that _knew_ he’d found **his person** in Ignis.  He could travel all of Eos, meet hundreds of other guys, but it would only be affirmation that he needed no other.  Day after day though, Noct had always wondered exactly where _he_ stood with Ignis.

 

Tonight, he decides to find out.

 

Suddenly, Ignis grunts as he’s pinned beneath Noctis.  He had strength on Noct, but the prince had the element of almost torturously distracting surprise.  Though a scowl hides behind his dark blond bangs, Ignis lets his arms be drawn above his head without a fight, Noct lacing their fingers together.  A shuddering breath escapes Ignis as his friend grinds hard against his trapped cock.

 

“Hey,”  The tip of Noct’s nose brushes against his as he whispers.

 

_“Hey…”_

 

“This...this okay?” Noct asks, following up with another indecent grind into Ignis.

 

But Ignis shakes his head with short, side-to-side movements as he tells his friend, “No.  I believe you’re wearing too many clothes.”

 

Noct’s eyes must go comically large as he sits up, because now the man he stares down at has his own damningly spiteful, smug grin plastered on his face, as if this is all still retaliation for Noctis questioning his sexual experience earlier.  Ignis is entertaining his devious side all too well.

 

_“Fine._ Then so are you.”

 

“That I am…”

 

Hands now freed, Ignis brings them to the thighs that straddle his hips and lets his fingers find their way to the waistband of Noct’s boxer briefs.   He tugs them down over Noct’s ass as his friend wriggles upright onto his knees, and he lets out a loud, gratified sigh at the beautiful sight he uncovers.  Ignis trails two fingers down, with featherlight touch: starting at the thick, circular curve of the black ring he so loved to secrectly admire at Noct’s navel, downward along the thin trail of dark, coarse hair peppering his lightly muscled stomach, and finally across the hard, dark pink flesh of Noct’s cock, already dripping with precum.  Ignis allows his temptations, and circles his thumb through the stickiness at the tip, causing a tremor to ripple through Noct’s body.

 

“Ohh, _Godsss, Noct.”_

 

Ignis runs his other hand down the notches of his raven-haired prince’s spine, not thinking twice as his fingers rise over the bump of scar tissue as they travel lower.  Noctis cowers at the touch - it’s faint, but Ignis doesn’t pull his hand away, opting instead to smooth the calloused palm of his hand along every inch, wanting to absorb each cell of fear and self-doubt Noctis has, and find some way to replace it with the bravery that he knows is pooling deep within him somewhere.

 

Noctis gets up unexpectedly, and Ignis _feels_ bare without his weight over him.  Noct lets his boxers fall the rest of their way down his legs, then steps out of them and moves to Ignis’s bedside table to snuff out the only artificial light source.  In the subtle hush of the room, Ignis’s voice mingles in perfect harmony with the patter of rain against the windows.

 

“Noct...what’s the matter?  Everything alright? You know you don’t have to worry about-”

 

“I...yeah, I just changed my mind about the light, that’s all.”

 

Despite the long scar there, Ignis finds himself trying not to admire the muscled form of Noct’s back; not unlike trying to avoid a glimpse at the dangerous beauty of an eclipse.  Ignis doesn’t want his gaze to be perceived as critical, so he chooses instead to stare at his ceiling when Noctis turns around finally.

 

Awaiting the welcomed weight of his prince across his lap again, Ignis is thoroughly surprised when he feels himself being quickly stripped of his last bit of clothing.  In the dim city light being let in over window sills, he glances down at himself and Noct and feels _too_ naked.  

 

“Move up.”  Noctis gives an order lacking demand.

 

Noctis watches the fraction of panic that glimmers over Ignis as he tries to shuffle himself backwards on one hip, legs attempting to disguise a very prominent erection.  He doesn’t want this, not if it’s going to be awkward. As the blond kicks at blankets to sink below their cover, Noct decides to wash over him as a protective, possessive barrier to everything outside of this fragile piece of time.  He’s thankful for the cage of Ignis’s legs that lead him in, and the arms that wrap his torso tight like a vicious maw clamping shut on its prey.

 

Their own little spark of fire ignites like two thin fuses from mouths, to worried hearts, to fluttering stomachs, meeting at the joining of undulating hips.  The feel of Ignis below him claws out some deep-seated human emotion Noctis isn’t sure he’s prepared to lay bare. _What did Specs say out there on the hill?_ His teenage hormones bring him hurdling over that obstruction in his mind when Ignis’s cock grinds against his _just right._

 

Like a slow-moving fog, Noct’s lips retreat from Ignis’s, only to meet with the shallow dip between his pecs, where the prince can feel the thrum of a hurried pulse dance upon his mouth.  

 

As Noctis trickles open-mouthed kisses down his abdomen like molten wax, Ignis takes a sharp gulp of air when he feels the faint trail of teeth.  He dares a look, and practically loses any mettle he has left, when in return, he’s greeted with something bordering animalistic in Noct’s eyes.

 

Noctis whispers soothingly into the blond’s stomach, “Specs, calm down.”

 

Ignis mimics the hushed tone of his friend, “Hardly an easy feat when the way you...look is... _positively sinful.”_

 

“Sinful, huh?  I think I like that.” Noctis smirks at the possible compliment.

 

Ignis tries to swat at his head, but Noct quickly pins his wrist, and slinks down further, imprinting images the blond won’t soon forget.  On his knees, ass up in the air, Noct takes his other hand and grips Ignis’s cock, using tantalizing, loose strokes to help bait his friend into telling him what he wants.

 

“Tell me, Ignis…”

 

His only answers at first, are shuddering breaths and fingers that pet the tangled, wet tresses away from his face.  

 

So, Noctis asks while taking on an imitation of innocence in his whispered voice, “Tell me you want this?”

 

Ignis gives him a short nod, _“I do.  Please, Noct, I do.”_

 

He wants desperately to watch as well, but at the first meeting of Noct’s lips to the flushed head of his dick, Ignis makes a quiet, half-choked sound and involuntarily pinches his eyes shut.  Using the distant sounds of thunder as a ballast for his harried senses, Ignis pries his eyelids open just as Noctis takes half of him into his mouth; and on a further, wet slide down, the prince massages the underside of Ignis’s cock with his tongue.  The alternating pressure drives Ignis’s back off the bed as he lets out a loud groan.

 

Noctis is _surprised,_ but also relishes in the satisfaction from the noises he’s causing Ignis to make.  He hums his own appreciative sounds along his friend’s saliva-slick shaft, wanting to turn his usually clean-cut friend into an utter mess.  Noct releases Ignis’s left wrist and lets him tug at his hair with both hands as he flicks his tongue below the tip of the blond’s cock, stopping only when the hair pulling is setting Noctis’s head off-balance.

 

“Ah...Iggy, you really enjoying yourself, there?  Heh...umm, can’t really keep going when you’re kinda pulling me away, y’know?”

 

Ignis is half-tempted to curl his hips upward and wipe that pleased, lopsided grin off Noctis’s face with his dick.  Instead, his gaze follows the alluring, upward slope of his back that leads to the evermore enticing curve of his friend’s ass.

 

“No matter, I think I’d rather like to kiss you right now.”

 

With a middle and index finger leading him under his chin, Noctis indulges Ignis.  Their kissing becomes more heated and sloppy, enabling Ignis to flip them by taking advantage of a distracted prince.  He laughs at the disgruntled crinkle in the bridge of Noct’s nose, his lips soon smoothing it away.

 

“Noct...don’t grump at me,” Ignis finds his boldness once again and slides his left hand between them, letting his palm slide up and down Noct’s length, a remedy to the situation, “you’ll find you like me much better _on top_ soon enough…”

 

Noctis trails his hands down Ignis’s back until he can grip firmly at his muscled ass, a little rougher than he should, “Mm...what if that’s not what I had in mind?”

 

Ignis shudders above him as Noct drags his fingertips further down through the cleft of his ass, stopping just where the older teen had _hoped he would._

 

_“I assure you, we’re on the same page.”_ Ignis leans down to purr into Noct’s ear and bites at one of the black rings there.

 

Using the sporadic flashes of lightning as his guide, Ignis leans over Noct to search the drawer of his bedside table.  As soon as he opens it though, he _prays_ Noctis doesn’t hear the telltale, heavy roll of an object that comes to rest at the front of the drawer.  But of course, he can only get lucky in so many ways tonight, apparently…

 

“Whatcha got hidin’ in there?  Hmmmmm??”

 

A flushing of his face.  A stammer. And Ignis is trying to prevent Noctis’s prying eyes a peek with one forearm planted firmly on his chest, quickly slamming the drawer shut.

 

_“That._ Is none of your business.”

 

“Aww, c’mon Speccyyy!  It _could be_ my business…”

 

“ **No.** ”

 

“I’m just curious!!”

 

Ignis rolls his eyes and grabs up Noct’s hand, pushing a bottle of lube into it.

 

“Gods, you’re bloody incorrigible!  I suggest you satisfy your curiosity _elsewhere.”_

 

The prince cocks a thin, dark eyebrow at him, _“Yessir.”_

 

Ignis feints climbing off of Noct in anger, only to be pulled back with giggled apologies and a flurry of kisses to his chest, neck, and face.  All the little silent, physical atonements being his favourites - the loving, necessary reminders for why he let his conscience take the night off.

 

Noctis reels himself back into the moment with Ignis’s lips on his, foregoing his stupid, anxious jests in favour for savouring the muted melody of Ignis’s voiced pleasure against his mouth as he slides one finger inside of him and _curls it._

 

But the fact that Noct’s arm is between them causes a very undesirable barrier between their bodies - something Noctis intends to fix immediately.

 

“Hey...uhmm, hang on a sec.  Sorry…”

 

Ignis is feeling a bit dismayed at whatever is causing this delay of Noctis’s, but relents as his friend scoots them up towards pillows Noct’s propped against the headboard.  The new position has Ignis in an almost seated position on the prince’s lap; at once, he’s thankful for the new closeness and Noct’s ability to get right back to where they’d left off when an arm slides around his waist.  This time, _two_ slick fingers enter him - Ignis reacting with a long, suppressed moan against the side of his friend’s neck and short thrusts against Noct’s cock with his own.  Noctis answers Ignis’s movements with the steady curling of his fingers until he hears his name in a whisper that means, _“Stop.”_

 

“Everything okay?”

 

Little pale bursts of light pulsate across Ignis’s face and shoulder as he nods; Noctis giving an almost imperceptible jolt with the clap of thunder that follows.  Knuckles drag lightly against his brow before Noctis realises what Ignis means to do.

 

Two pairs of long lashes flutter, and blue eyes seek green in unspoken agreement as Ignis hovers over the raven-haired boy, adjusting them...positioning them...and Ignis feels like his entire circulatory system may burst with an anticipation that borders on dread.   _What if I’m not good enough?_ he frets internally.   _What if Noct regrets all of this?_

 

But with every centimeter his body steals of Noctis, Ignis feels his skin, his muscles, his nerves heating; and the air in the room is thick like cotton batting.  Every other sense, every other _sensation_ that isn’t _feeling_ is taken away from him in that moment, as if their love-making creates its own mock-magic seal around Ignis’s bedroom, drowning out the world and all the more trivial things within it.  One more inhale...one more exhale…

 

Outside the bedroom windows, the rain lets up, creating drapery out of lacy, watery veins down the large glass panes; each shifting drop knocking into another, carving new tributaries with their fall.

 

Noctis kisses his friend with the whole of the universe upon his tongue - the only way he can give _just that_ to Ignis - he has already given Noctis the world in this moment... _himself._ Hell, if Noct could cocoon his own heart around Ignis’s right now, he fucking would.  He lets himself imagine, while holding Ignis as if he’s sand slipping through his fingers, _this_ **_must_ ** _be what love is._

 

Ignis lifts his lips from Noct, making to shift himself upright until Noct grabs his face so suddenly, it’s as if he’s scared the blond might leave.

 

“...Noct?”

 

“I don’t want this to be just... _it._ I don’t want this to be all there is after tonight.”

 

“Neither do I…” Ignis says, breathlessly.

 

The following kiss they share feels more like a pact, _a promise._

 

The deep shadows of the bedroom cut geometric shapes into the muscled planes of Ignis’s stomach, down to his undulating hips that Noct can’t help but watch.  His hands wander atop toned, flexing thighs and find their home there with a hard grip. Errant flashes of lighting strobe across their rocking forms - the stormy night like a voyeuristic photographer.  A curious moon sneaks a peek from behind parting clouds, the pale blue light bisecting Ignis’s angular features.

 

The prince fixates on Ignis’s mouth and the way he practically laps at the air each time he moans when Noct lifts his hips, driving his cock just where he needs it.  As the young advisor shifts over him, Noctis admires the contrasting play of shadow upon Ignis’s left cheekbone and brow; and the way the rising moonlight illuminates his right eye in fractal blues and greens.  But those eyes change, lids dropping half-way. A muscle in Ignis’s jaw twitches as his teeth clench in pleasure, just as the fingers on the hand that reaches back for Noct’s thigh clench over the flesh there. His head lolls back for a few seconds before he stares back into Noctis’s gaze, brows pinched.

 

“Noctis... **harder**.”

 

“Y-you sure?”

 

Noct doesn’t get an answer...not unless you count the way Ignis slides a hand beneath his hip, lifting Noct’s ass off the bed each time Ignis slams down onto his cock.

 

_“Ohh, FUCK, Specs!”_

 

Taking the hint, Noct bends his knees up, letting Ignis rest back against his thighs for a beat, before he spreads his legs further for more momentum to snap his hips up in unison with Ignis’s downward movements.  When the older teen latches onto the headboard, Noctis feels like it might be too much - the way Ignis fucks him. After his shitty night at the party, with even shittier kids, he was not expecting... _this._

 

Noctis tries to ignore the feeling low in his stomach, like a bowstring growing more and more taut by the second.  He surrenders to more of the lovely distraction that is his best friend’s...sex face. Stringy, wet strands of ash blond hair bounce over the furrow in Ignis’s brow, his jade eyes somehow pleading Noct for _more;_ a steady stream of pants pass between those lips with the perfect cupid’s bow.  Blasphemously, Noctis wonders how on Eos someone could still look this godsdamn angelic right now. 

 

The cacophony of their shared moans rise along with the heat between their bodies.  Ignis feels Noct grab for one of his hands that’s white-knuckling the headboard, pulling him down for a fevered kiss.  He curls himself into his prince, and gives up the very last ounce of resolve he has left. They move together like two celestial creatures hidden amongst the night sky, lips meeting and drifting, skimming over damp skin here or there until Noct cups his face.  Ignis focuses on the blissful haze of blue in Noct’s eyes as he whispers.

 

“I know what I feel...but, did you mean what you said tonight…?”

 

_“Noct…”_

 

“You love me?”

 

A startled expression passes briefly across Ignis’s face before he confesses, _“Yes..._ I’m _in love_ with you, Noct.”

 

“I-I feel... _I feel the same way,_ ” Noctis stammers, but Ignis’s heart is overcome.

 

They kiss until Noctis takes him in hand, stroking him towards completion.  Ignis rests his forehead heavy against Noct’s as his spine tingles with a rolling fire and his mind blanks out, his body soon filling with the heat of his lover.  With a deep whine, Noctis bends his head back into the pillows, arching himself off the mattress; the feel of Ignis’s cum running over his fist driving him directly over the edge.

 

Ignis drags the tip of his nose along the bridge of Noctis’s until a small laugh reaches his ears.  He leans up on his elbows until that perfect, crooked grin of Noct’s comes into focus. The young advisor covers the prince’s face in feathery kisses, finally meeting his mouth when he receives an impatient grunt.

 

“Don’t...be,” Ignis attempts to speak between a kiss he doesn’t want to part from, “...angry, but...we should...probably _clean up.”_

 

“Shit.  Yeah, yeahh...guess you’re right.”

 

Ignis lifts himself off Noct’s softening cock with a slight shudder, quickly scrambling off the bed.  They both clean up as best as possible with the tissues Ignis sets between them, both young men trying not to catch the other’s eye for fear of embarrassment.  Ignis leaves the room momentarily to fetch them each a bottle of water, Noct seemingly in need of hydration a bit more than he.

 

“So Noct, does this mean you and I are an item, then?” Ignis asks with heavy humour as he climbs back into bed beside Noctis.

 

“What?  Ew, don’t say that…”

 

“Oh, so you _don’t_ want me to be your boyfriend?” Ignis smirks and wriggles away from Noct’s open arms in mock-offence.

 

_“Fuck off..._ That’s not what I meannttt!  I mean, yeah... _I do_...but Six, Iggy, don’t say ‘an item’ ever againnn.”

 

Ignis chuckles as he snuggles in closer to Noct, “Fair enough,” Foreheads touch, noses and lips brush, and legs intertwine; one naked body conforming to the other for warmth beneath plush blankets, “but if we’re making rules, I deem it _absolutely necessary_ you abandon the comforts of your unkempt bed for mine from here on out.”

 

“Oh yeah?  That how it’s gonna be?  Well then...as your **boyfriend** , I say I get to have you again in the morning.”

 

“Hm…”

 

_“What??”_ Noctis scowls, feeling a bit cross-eyed in his close-proximity glare at Ignis.

 

“Perhaps after coffee?”

 

“Astrals, Ignis...seriously?  Whatever...Is Ebony _really_ that good?”

 

Ignis gives him a peck on the nose and the purest of smiles that reaches the corners of his eyes, “Actually, yes.  Perhaps you should give it a try. Might give your arse a reason to get out of bed faster in the mornings.”

 

“Mm...how about _you_ give me a reason?”

 

Noctis showers Ignis with lips and tongue along his jaw and neck, causing any effort the blond makes at speaking to be quite the struggle.

 

“Yes, I suppose I could _get you up_ **_much_ ** _faster,_ couldn’t I?”

 

The prince gives him a shove to the arm before resting within the little hollow nook of his shoulder and chest.  Arms enfold around Noct: safe, strong, and secure. He feels a strange bloom of confidence and quiet elation charge his soul, and nuzzles further into Ignis’s neck when his _now boyfriend_ brushes his hair back off his forehead.

 

“Mm...Ignis?”

 

The older teen cranes his neck to get a better look at the deep blue agate eyes rimmed in black.

 

“I’m....I’m just _really happy_ , Iggy.”

 

Ignis drifts the soft pad of his thumb over a pale pink mouth, and sighs contentedly, “Gods, Noct...so am I…” with an anxious press of lips upon lips, he draws Noct into him even further, “I’ll always be here.   _No matter what, I_ **_promise_ ** _you.”_

 

Hugging arms and legs against his boyfriend, Noctis places a grateful kiss to his chest, and slowly begins to doze to the constant of Ignis’s rhythmic heartbeat - his anchor, _his home._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My babiesss<3
> 
> If time permits and inspiration strikes, I'd love to possibly continue with more from this AU!
> 
> Thank you for reading, my loveyyyss :3


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